Material receiving, storing, and delivering apparatus



March 2, 1954 c. F. BALL 2,670,836

MATERIAL RECEIVING, STORING, AND DELIVERING APPARATUS Fi'led July 7, '1949 5 sh ee'ts-Sheet l 3 lim;

2,670,836 MATERIAL RECEIVING. STORING, AND DELIVERING APPARATUS Filed July '7. 1949 C. F. BALL March 2, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 mw mw -,mm mw. my 1 E Q QNNW M ww e Z L Nm ma 4N a bv m I@ m m a, Q a y m mm t :v o um N% -mM um, S mm C. F. BALL March 2, 19254 MATERIAL RECEIVING, STORING, AND DELIVERING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July '7, 1949 ma m@ 5 5 v 4 4 n@ IW w, 7 5. m 0 w 0 m 6.a W 7 4 uw ml f F .mi m. A Ml w w k 0.1 9 AOJ J. |J w Nr Hm March 2, 1954 Q F, BALL 2,670,836

- MATERIAL RECEIVING, STORING, AND DELIVERING APPARATUS Filed July '7, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Q l Q0 I w 1 Q A (h \Q C. F. BALL March 2, 1954 MATERIAL RECEIVING, STORING, AND DELIVERING APPARATUS Filed July 7, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 mi. We un J1 au e un. ur u, n un J1 d. J

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ur .un u JH La un d for Patented Mar. 2, 1954 "UNITED `'STA'I1SIES fPAT ENT CE MATERIALRECEIVING, STORINGf-AND .DELIVERING APPARATUS Charles F.1"Ball, Franklin',

"Manufacturing Company,

"Pa., assignorto Joy Pittsburgh, Ta., a

corporationoPennsylvania Application' July 7, 1949,--Serial No. 103,453 1I Claims. .l Cl.' Hi8-76) My invention .relates ...tomaterial receiving, storing and 'dischargingapparatus and more particularlyito such apparatus especially, but

by no means exclusively, adapted to use with mineral veinfdisintegrating Sand disintegrated material-delivering apparatus which is capable of relatively continuousdelivery of material. Its various aspectswill hereinafterappear.

Continuous miners of arecently developed type disintegrate a mineral vein. and deliver at their `discharges theedi'sintegrated `material-as example, 'but .without limitation thereto, coal-in ,sucha manner that, while there are brief interruptions.betweendeliveriesof the material resulting from'thejfdisintegration of successive upright' bands,- and'longerinterruptions, though still-brief ones,.`.v between. .the completion of the disintegration l,of .one transverse. series of upright bands andthe initiationof theattackon the subsequent,series,v ,there isfnevertheless a de- `very of relativelyl-large .quantities of mineral with such minorinterruptions,of.continuity of discharge that a,serious:problemhas'been presented by the .fact.that,materialreception.is somewhat intermittent even with..the transporting devices best adapted .tolhandlethe .product of such miners VWeretrue. continuity of .discharge possible, the l.problernwould be even more acute.

If, to presenta simpleexamplewe assumea d miner to have an average. dischargerate of a ton per minute, and that a fshuttle carcan make around trip, v.includingdischarge time, from the minerdischarge -backto the same again, in on the order of .3 minutes, it ywillbe apparent that someprovision-forfthe storage of 3l tonsof coal .mustbe .madeinorderthat the miner can continueits attack onffa mineral vein while .the shuttlecar vis travelingY from the miner to its discharge point,` eiecting discharge ofv its load, and returning, to the ifminer. -While the gures given `for-illustrationeare low,they are adequate to illustrate,theseriousnessfof 4the problem.

The provision Aof sa.. suitable e'storage and material-handling device. adapted .to meet such conditions .is one of the `objects v. of -my invention. Such .a storage device must y'have provision.V for the discharge -of its receivedfload. To thatend it will desirably embody ,--aefconveyor belt, ight or other. Itmusthave storage vcapacity forthe material discharged bythe Sminer in the periods of absence ofthe ffshuttlecar. :Thismay be provided. by; the use v(ifea`hopper...car,..bythe-,use cfa 4"belt conveycr'wthi'stationary side boards,

or by the use of a b K boards, when the longitudinal dimension` of the elt conveyor Without side device is not a vital factor. One` characteristic of, any such .device is, however, thatso long-'as any conveyor whichforms a. portion of the storage-capacity-providing structure continues to move (circulate-with the types mentionedithere will be spread over the top.. runthereof a layer of a disintegrated mineral, thick or thin, depending on the rate of conveyor travel; andwhena thin layer of material. remains on theconveyor at the end of a discharge period, vand the. conveyor is continued in operation, but at a much slower speed, to receive and 'distribute a new load inthe storage device, there. willv necessarily. have to be made some disposition of this thin ..layer,.for otherwise it willbe dumped on the mine bottom. The problem can be met, in accordance with my invention, by employing main and discharge conveyors, with suitable multispeed .drives for each, by clearing the dischargeconv-eyor atthe end of a rdischarge period, by delivering its entire load to a car whichY has been receivinga load, while temporarily preventing .the delivery of further material to the discharge conveyor by interrupting the delivery of new material .to it from .the main conveyor and providing. for vtemporary retention orstorage of material by the .main conveyor while the discharge conveyor is. cleared.

According to a preferred embodiment .of-my invention there is provided a main conveyor and a secondary or discharge conveyor,.the main conveyor adapted to receive material froma miner and to discharge it to the secondaryconveyor, and each of said conveyors having its own driving means-and each of said driving-means Vbeing of a plural speed type, so that the main conveyor may `be operated at a load-receiving rate or at a much higher load-dischargingrate, .or maintained stationary; and so that the. discharge conveyor may be operated at a dischargingrate suited to the rate at which materialis delivered toit bythe main conveyor andalso at .a rate suited tothe storage on it Yo1 the .thin layer` f material above mentioned while` themainconveyor is being loaded, -withthe conveyorsproportionecl" as would normally be the case the Vslow speed vof the discharge conveyor A.would .be-less than the load receiving speed ofthe ina-inconveyor and the .deliveryv speed .of the ydischarge conveyor .would be greater than the load-dis# charging speed of ythe'main conveyor. The discharge conveyor. may also haveits .drive interrupted. A Reverting tothe objects of my invention, it is,

then, a primary object to provide an improved material-receiving, storing and discharging apparatus so constructed and arranged that the distribution of a thin layer of material over the bottom thereof during the final stages of unloading therefrom of an accumulated load may not result in an unavoidable discharge of such material onto a mine bottom. Another object of the invention is to provide an improved materialreceiving, storing and discharging apparatus having, in combination with its means for distributing the material received thereby during loading thereof throughout its length at an appropriate rate and for unloading the material rapidly when it is desired to discharge it, a means for completely interrupting its operation so that it may receive and store up material delivered to it from a miner or the like for a given period; there being associated with said conveyor a secondary, discharge conveyor, also having plural speed operating means embodying a high speed drive adapted to enable it to receive and discharge to a transport vehicle a load from the main conveyor, anda slower speed drive for enabling it to store, Without discharge to the mine door, all of the material that may be delivered to it from the relatively thin layer which overlies the main conveyor at the end of the emptying period of the latter. A further object is to provide' an improved material-receiving, storing and discharging apparatus having improved material handling and controlling apparatus associated therewith whereby material may be completely cleared from one portion thereof While material being delivered to another portion thereof may be stored where it falls. Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved material-receiving, storing and discharging apparatus embodying an improved combination of plural speed material-conveying and storing devices each having a low materialreceiving and storing speed and a high discharging speed, as well as drive interrupting means. A further object is to provide an improved load receiving conveyor having a uniform low driving speed suited to load reception without need for operator attention such as is necessary with devices where but one, relatively high, discharge speed is provided and the load must be distributed by advancing the conveyor in short steps. Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter more fully appear.

In the accompanying drawings, in which one illustrative embodiment which my invention may assume in practice is shown for purposes of illustration- Fig. 1 is a plan view of a material-receiving, storing and discharging apparatus constructed in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the structure shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary central longitudinal section, with parts broken away, on the plane of the section line 3 3 of Fig. l.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view on the plane of the line 4-4 of Fig. 2, showing the apparatus for laterally swinging the delivery conveyor.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary View of the plural pump arrangement, parts being broken away to show the drive of the plural pumping units.

Fig. 6 is a generally diagrammatic viewr showlng the hydraulic system of the apparatus.

Fig. 7 is a vertical section, with parts shown in elevation, through one of the variable displacement pumps, the section being taken on the plane of the line 'I-'I of Fig. 5.

Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section on an enlarged scale on the plane of the line 8-8 of Fig. 5, showing details of one of the variable displacement pumps.

Figs. 9, 10 and 1l are essentially diagrammatic views showing, respectively, conditions when the main conveyor has been stationary and has been accumulating, at its end nearer the miner, a load while the secondary conveyor has been ccmpletely clearing itself; conditions when the main conveyor is fully loaded and the secondary conveyor is also loaded throughout its length, though not to its maximum carrying capacity, through the transfer to it of the thin layer hereinbefore mentioned; and conditions such as exist after the main load has been cleared from the main conveyor and a thin layer has been deposited on the main conv-eyor throughout substantially the full upper run thereof, and the secondary conveyor is still discharging a portion of the main load of the main conveyor.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is shown incorporated in an apparatus I, which bears considerable resemblance to a tread supported shuttle car of the plural conveyor type. This construction includes a main body 2 having a Wide material-receiving portion 3 and having, as just noted, in contrast to the conventional rubber tired wheels of a usual shuttle car, motor driven, tractor tread supporting means 4, one at each side and each driven by a motor 5, one of said motors being shown in full lines in Fig. 2 and both dotted lines in Fig. 1; and the propulsion of the apparatus I is controllable by any suitable mechanism, herein designated 6, and requiring no illustration of its details, by which mechanism the tractor tread supporting means 4 can be independently or simultaneously driven.

The apparatus is adapted to move along behind a continuous miner and to receive over its end E the disintegrated material which the miner discharges. This close adjacency may be maintained by the propulsion means of the apparatus I, or can be effected by the use of a suitable draw bar or equivalent connection between the miner and the apparatus I. The structure of the continuous miner per se need not be illustrated in this application, and it may be of various forms, such as, for example, that disclosed and claimed in the ccpending application of Samuel Leven, Serial No. 16,698, filed April 8, 1948, which application is owned by my assignee. It will suffice to say that the miner has its own delivery conveyor at the rear end thereof, and that this conveyor is adapted to discharge to the end E of the apparatus I.

The apparatus I has two conveyors, a main conveyor II and a secondary or delivery conveyor I2. The main conveyor includes flights I3 moved by flight-moving chains I4 driven by sprockets I5 mounted on a transversely extending shaft I6, the latter driven through worm and Worm wheel driving mechanism I'I and a universal joint connected, extensible drive shaft I8 driven by a hydraulic motor I9 through any suitable reduction mechanism, not shown, but desirably enclosed within a gear casing I9. The motor I9 is, as shown, a hydraulic motor, as noted, and its operation may be interrupted by the interruption of fluid supply to it, and its speed of operation may bewidely varied. In the illustrative Vembodiment this speed variation is shown as secured by ywidely varying the rate of kiiuid supply tothe motor, bini-t the ,use-of variable .speed motors is within the contemplation and scope of my invention.

The main conveyor extends throughout the bottom of the body 2 and also includes a short, upwardly inclined delivery section 20. The con-v veyor is guided .at its .end remote from the shaft I5, as at 2|, and extends substantially throughout the full length of the bOdyZ.

The secondary or discharge -conveyor I2 includes flights 23 and night-moving .chains 24, the latter guided by a trough arrangement 25 .pivotally connected at 29 Aforvvertical adjustment .to a base portion 2l through the length .of which the discharge conveyor extends. The `delivery conveyor is driven through mechanism. verysimilar .to the mechanism described in connection with the main conveyor, including a worm and worm wheel driven, transversely extending, sprocket carrying shaft 28 driven through universal-joint-provided, telescopic-joint-equipped shafting 29 actuated by a lhydraulic motor 3d, as to which the same comments as are above made with respect to the motor I9 apply, and which is of somewhat smaller size than the motor I9. This smaller size is made possible by the fact that the depth of load of the .delivery conveyor will be much less than the maximum depth of loading .of the main conveyor. The base 2l is `pivotable about the axis Aof a vertical pivot pin 3| which extends through a pulley-like element 32 whose periphery is grooved at 33 `for a cable 34 having a portion secured at 35 to the pulleylike element and similar forwardly extending runs 36, 3.6 guided around stationary pulleys 31, 3l on a frame element 38 of the body 2; and the cable portions 36 then extend outwardly and about other pulleys 39, v39 arranged at .opposite sides of the frame element 38, and Vthen forwardly about pulleys 40, 40 shortly further to be described, and then rearwardly to points of attachment 4|, 4| at the outer sides of the body 2. The pulleys 4|) are rotatably supported in forks 42 carried by the outer ends of piston rods 43, and the piston rods, which inV lthe structure shown provide their own piston surfaces 44 at their ends away from the pulleys 40, are reciprocable in stationary cylinders 45 xed to the op.- posite sides of the body 2. Supply of iiuid to either of the cylinders 45,which are single acting cylinders, will effect swing of the vfree end .of the delivery conveyor; and if uid is trapped simultaneously in both cylinders, there will be `fixed positioning of the delivery conveyor. Theouter end of the frame 25 is connected .by flexible means 48 to the piston rod 49 of a cylinder and piston mechanism 50 which is pivotally connected at I to a connecting element 52 which is horizontally pivotable about an axis in line with the axis of the pivot pin 3|. Supply of uid to .the end of the cylinder 5U through which the piston rod 49 extends will raise the outer end of the conveyor frame 25.

The means for supplying hydraulic uid to the hydraulic motors I9 and 30, respectively driving the main conveyor and the delivery conveyor, to the cylinders 45, and to the cylinder and piston mechanism 50, may now be described.

A motor 60, desirably an electric motor, is

mounted on the frame of the apparatus at a.

suitable point. Through reduction gearing 6| shown in Fig. 5 and including a motordriven pinon'. sears, t3 arranged-at apposite sides of 3. the Arigida l6:21am driveshatts .645 newer ils-sun pliedrto the shafts'65 of variable output. orde livery pumpst and i'l. -Thesepumps .are oa well known commercialconstruction. Each-in cludes a cylinder 68 in which a. vaned r0t0r`59 is rotatable. The cylinder elemmits `68 are shifte able between positions `in which they are v-con-v centric with the axis of the shafts 65 respective ly, and positions in which they are substantially eccentric with ,respect to such shafts. When the rotor and `cylinder are concentric no uid is jdischarged', and with increasingV `eccentricityA there is an increase in the volume :of duid pumped. The eccentricity is increasedzbymeans ovf-man-z ually adjustable screwanclnut devices 'l0 acting through a plunger 1| to force` the `cylinder elements 68 laterally (as shown, downwardly) against 'the for-ce exerted by springs 'I2 arranged diametrically opposite the plunger H Pump discharge pressure may bedelivered through connections 13 to act on shoulders 'I4 on the plunger 1| to retract the latter when the screw and nut mechanism 'I0 is adjusted to make this possible. These pumps 89 and 61 arev but illustrative of Iany suitable pumping devices providing for wide variation in the quantity of pumped fluid. They are high pressure pumps and adapted to supply substantial quantities of duid. They draw fluid from a tank S9 through a connection 8| having branches 82 and 83 leading to the intakes of the pumps 96 and 8". respectively. The discharge line te from the pump 6B lea-ds to a valve box. 85 of well known construction. Three manu--V ally controlled valve devices 86, .81 and 88 are associated with this valve box, .and .also an automatic high pressure .relief vvalve 8.9. v`When the several valve devices are in .mid-position the iiuid discharged by the pump lzli'lmayl now freely back to the tank through a--conduit 90, and at any time that the pressure builds up to an excessive value in the valve box or any of the devices to which it supplies fluid, uid may also open the relief valve 89 and yescape to the return. conduit 90. The valve device 88, through a. conduit 9|, controls the supply to the piston rod end of the cylinder and piston device 50, which controls the elevation ofthe delivery end ofthe secondary conveyor, and the venting of uid from this device. The valve mechanism 81. vselectively supplies uid through conduits -93 yand 94 to the tail conveyor swing cylinders 45, 45,.- venting huid lfrom one of these cylinders while supplying it to the other. The valve mechanism 88 controls the supply of iiuid to the tail conf veyor driving motor 30 through -a conduit 9 5,

and iiuid supplied to this motor is exhausted.

through a conduit 95 to a return line 97 connected at 98 to the return -line 90. The discharge line |00 from the pump 61 leads to a valve box lili, essentially the saine as the valve box except that it incorporates but vone manually controlled valve device |01. A .return line |02 leads from the box |0| to the return line 90; and the valve device IDI controls the connection of the line |80 with a conduit |03, through which fluid is adapted to loe-supplied to the motor I9 which actuates the main conveyor I3.; vand fluid passing bereturned to the conduit .91 lby a .conduit por-.- tion |04. It will be appreciated, noting that the screw and nut devices 1910i the :different pumps 1 may be .controlled bymanually adjustablehandles, |05 in the case of pump 66, and |06 inthe` case of pump 61, that the output :of the .pumps 166 and vl'l .may be .contrainedr .fe-.very wide range;

through the motor |9- is :adapted to' and with great nicety by the adjustment of the handles |05 and 106. The flow of iluid to the motor 30 from the pump 66 is controlled by the valve device 88. Adjustable stop devices H are variably positionable in arcuate slots I l I on each of the pump devices, and these provide fixed, though adjustable, stops for limiting the movements of the handles H15 and |06. It is thus possible to provide for a predetermined minimum (which may, but will not normally, be zero) displacement of these pumps and a predetermined maximum displacement. By suitably indexing the arcuately slotted portions it will be possible to adjust the handles and |06 to provide any desired known rate of movement or drive of the conveyors which they control.

Without meaning thereby to limit the functioning of the structure described in any way, it may be noted that the size of the motor I9 and the capacity of the pump 61 may advisedly be determined so that, with a given adjustment of the handle |06 predetermined by an adjustment of one of its associated stops I I0, the main conveyor will have a top speed, suited to the discharge of its load, of on the order of 60 feet per minute, While the discharge conveyor, through a suitable adjustment of one of the stops associated with the handle |05 and a predetermination of the capacity of the pump 66 and of the motor 30, may have a top speed, suited to discharge the material delivered to it during the discharge of a load by the main conveyor, of 120 feet per minute. During the accumulation of a load in the body 3, the main conveyor may desirably be operated continuously at a speed of 3 to 5 feet per minute, and the delivery conveyor at about one-half that speed. To attain these speeds without loss of time the stops ll may be positioned suitably.

During the period of discharge from the main conveyor there would accumulate a relatively thin layer of material behind the main load, and at the completion of the discharge of the main load there would remain a shallow layer of material overlying the full length of the top run of the main conveyor. As previously explained, if this were to be discharged to the secondary conveyor and discharged by the latter While the shuttle car was away from the delivery end of the secondary conveyor, it would be dumped on the mine bottom. If, on the other hand, the main conveyor be stopped completely, by closing the valve device 10|' momentarily, when its main load has had its final portions delivered to the secondary conveyor, and the latter be driven for a few seconds longer at its top speed and so caused to empty itself into the shuttle car before the shuttle car moves away with its load, there will be a capacity provided by the second conveyor for receiving the thin layer of material mentioned; and by operating the second conveyor at its slow speed of perhaps 11/2 to 21/2 ft. per minute during the accumulation by the main conveyor of its load, there can be stored by the secondary conveyor the thin layer mentioned as present on the main conveyor, and the latter may be loaded, at its slow rate of movement, by the miner, the heap of coal received during the momentary stoppage of the main conveyor while the secondary conveyor is clearing itself, doing no more than to build up a normal lling upon a small portion of the length of the main conveyor.

From what has just been said, it will be apparent that .a complete loading and unloading cycle may include, in whatever order is most convenient to think of them, a short period, only a few seconds in length, during which (la.) material is received by the end of the momentarily stationary main conveyor which underlies the discharge from the miner and (lb) the secondary conveyor is emptied by continued operation at its high speed of perhaps feet per minute; a period of perhaps 3 or 4 minutes duration during which (2a) the main conveyor receives its load while moving continuously at its low speed of 3 to 5 feet per minute and (2b) the secondary conveyor then moving at 11/2 to 2 1/2 feet per minute receives but does not discharge the thin layer from the main conveyor; and a further period of on the order of 30 seconds or so during which (3a) the main load from the main conveyor is delivered to the secondary conveyor at a relatively high rate of speed, say 60 feet per minute, and the thin layer is received by the main conveyor behind the main load and (3b) the accumulated load on the secondary conveyor and also the main load which the main conveyor delivers to the secondary conveyor are both discharged to a shuttle car, as at a speed of 120 feet per minute. This cycle can be repeated as often as may be desired. It will of course be understood that the speeds are illustrative and not limiting.

It will be evident that the described arrangement will prevent discharge of material to the mine bottom and will yet enable a substantially continuous operation of the miner with intermittent transfer of mined material to transport vehicles. It will be appreciated that the loading of material onto the end of the main conveyor during emptying of the discharge conveyor may at times be avoided if the emptying of the delivery -conveyor be eiected in proper relation with the periods of re-positioning of the miner for the attacking of a new upright face; there being provided a lag behind the actual adjustv ments of the miner because the conveyor of the miner would not clear itself simultaneously with the interruption of the discharging operations.

Referring to Figs. 9, l0 and l1, Fig. 9 shows the conveyors just after the discharge conveyor has emptied itself into a shuttle car and with the main coveyor having a load at its end remote from the discharge conveyor and a thin layer over the rest of its upper surface. Fig. 10 shows the conditions when the thin layer has been discharged onto and stored by the discharge conveyor. and the main conveyor has been fully loaded. The apparatus is now ready to commence discharge to a shuttle car. In Fig. 11, the discharge conveyor is just discharging the last of the main load from the main conveyor and may be completely emptied by stopping the latter momentarily. The main conveyor is shown with a thin layer of material upon it which it received during discharge of its main load.

It will be evident that this invention is Well adapted to handle the relatively continuous discharge of continuous miners, that it readily avoids the dropping of material on the mine bottom during the intervals between the times when the material transport devices to which it is adapted to discharge are in material-receiving position at its discharge end, that it is capable of changes in operation to meet different loading and discharge cycles.

While there is in this application specifically described one form which the invention may assume in practice. it will be understood that this form ofthe same. is shown for purposes of illustration and that the invention. may be modified and embodied in various other formswithoutdeparting from. its spirit or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. In combination, in a material receiving, storing and delivery apparatus.. a, body for receiving and storing material, means for supporting said body for. movement over an underlying surface, a main conveyor extending vthrough said bodyfor distributing` material received adjacent one end o'f the latter throughout the same and for discharging. a, load` therefrom, a discharge conveyor for receiving and discharging material delivered to it 'by said main conveyor, a motor for driving said discharge conveyor, a pump for vdeliveringfluid to said first mentioned motor, a pumpv for delivering fluid to.. said second mentioned motor, conduit means connecting said pumps with said motors respectively, means for controlling the output of said pumps individually, and means. for controlling the volumes of the iuids pumped by said pumps delivered to said motors.

2,. The combination recited. in claim 1 in which the means for controlling the output of the pumps individually includes quick adjustable means providing predetermined maximum and minimum pump discharge rates.

3. In combination, a body providing a hopper for receiving and storing material, a main conveyor associated with said body and extending along the same, a discharge conveyor positioned to receive material from said main conveyor and to discharge material received from the latter to a desired point of discharge, and means associated with said conveyors to (1) effect simultaneous drive of both of the same to effect delivery of a stored load at a predetermined rate, (2) t0 elect continued operation of said delivery conveyor to effect emptying thereof, while operation of said main conveyor is interrupted, and (3) to effect simultaneous operation of said main conveyor to store a new load and of said discharge conveyor to receive and store a layer of material received by the main conveyor during the period of discharge of its load, said means including plural predetermined speed drives, one for each of said conveyors.

4. In combination, a body providing a receptacle for receiving and storing material, a main conveyor associated with said body and extending along the same, a discharge conveyor positioned to receive material from said main conveyor and to discharge material received from the latter to a desired point of discharge, and means associated with said conveyors to (l) effect simultaneous drive of both of the same to eiect delivery of a stored load at a predetermined rate, (2) to elect continued operation of said delivery conveyor to effect emptying thereof, while operation of said main conveyor is interrupted, and (3) to effect simultaneous operation of said main conveyor to store a new load and of said discharge conveyor to store a layer of material received by the main conveyor during the period of discharge of its load including independent hydraulic driving means for said conveyors and independent iiuid supply and control systems for said hydraulic driving means each including a variable discharge pump having means manually shiftable to effect predetermined maximum and minimum fluid displacements thereby.

5. In combination, in a, material receiving,

10 storing and delivery apparatus. a body for re` ceiving and storing material, means for supporting said body for movement over an underlying, surface, a main conveyor extending through said body for distributing material received adjacent one. end of the latter throughout the same and for discharging a contained load therefrom,a discharge conveyor carried by said body posi. tioned to receive material from said rst con-.- veyor means and operable to discharge it to. an extraneous point, and means for driving said conveyors (1) simultaneously, each at relatively slow linear speed, to receive and store a load in the rst and tov receive and store in the Seconda layer of material from the rst deposited thereon dur-ing the discharge-of a full load, (2). simultaneously, each at much higher speed, td discharge the loads so accumulated, and (3) the second one only thereof, to clear the latter,l said driving means comprising plural predetermined speed driving mechanism for each of said conveyors.

6, In combination, in a material receiving, storing and delivery apparatus, a body for re.- ceiving and storing material, means for supporting said body for movement over an underlying surface, conveyor means extending through said body for distributing material received adjacent one end of the latter throughout the same and for discharging a contained load therefrom, another conveyor means carried by said body for receiving material from said first conveyor means and discharging it to an extraneous point, driving means for said rst conveyor means for actuating it selectively at a material receiving and storing speed and at a much higher material discharging speed, and driving means for the other conveyor means for actuating it at a material storage speed and at a speed adequate to discharge the material delivered to it by said first conveyor means when the latter is operating at its own top speed.

7. The combination recited in claim 6 in which the driving means for each of said conveyors has control means individual to it for changing its speed immediately from either of its speeds to the other.

8. The combination recited in claim 6 in which each of said driving means includes a variable output pump individual to it and having widely different discharge rates and in which each of said driving means has control means for selectively rendering either of said discharge rates of its variable output pump immediately eiective.

9. The combination recited in claim 6 in which each of said driving means includes a variable output pump individual to it and having widely different discharge rates and in which each of said driving means has control means for selectively rendering either of said discharge rates of its variable output pump immediately effective and an additional control means for wholly interrupting flow from its pump to the driving means to which it is arranged to supply uid.

10. In an apparatus of the character described, including a body having an open-top, continuous, unitary compartment for the reception of material at one end thereof and its discharge at the other end and for the storing of material, and a unitary conveyor associated with said body and extending along the latter at the bottom thereof for the full load-storage length thereof for moving material received at said one end of said body along said body to distribute a load throughout the length of said compartment and to discharge a load therefrom at said other end of said body, and driving means for said conveyor for driving the same at a relatively low predetermined speed throughout the reception of a load and at a relatively higher predetermined load-discharging speed, said driving means including a, motor for driving said conveyor means, a variable discharge pump for delivering uid to said motor, and means shiftable to effect predetermined maximum and minimum uid displacements by said pump for respectively effecting said predetermined load-discharging speed and said predetermined speed throughout load reception.

11. In combination, a body for receiving and storing material, a main conveyor associated with said body and extending along the same and adapted to receive at one end of said body a continuous supply thereto of material and to move such material to store a load thereof in said body, a discharge conveyor positioned to receive material from said main conveyor and operable to discharge material so received, means for driving said main conveyor at a constant slow speed suited to reception and storage of a load thereby and at a higher speed for effecting the discharge of material after the reception and storage of a load, and means for driving the discharge con- 12 veyor, during the drive of the main conveyor at such constant slow speed, also at a. constant slow speed, at which respective constant slow speed said discharge conveyor receives all the material which was received by the main conveyor during continued supply thereto of material While it was discharging its last previously stored load, said discharge conveyor having a capacity for the storage, Without discharge, of the material so received by said main conveyor between a consecutive pair of normal material storage periods of said main conveyor.

CHARLES F. BALL.

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